Split Rock Sunset: Photo Class Day 6

On Saturday Kelly and I got up really early to see the sunrise. We walked about 15 minutes from our room to a ridge near our accommodation. The colors in the sunrise were not that spectacular, but the early morning light made for some great black and white pictures (at least I think, I need to see how they develop).

Then our group when to the Mutawintji Historic Site, the part of the park that displays the Aborigines’ cultural heritage. It was a great tour, although it was quite long because there were like 50 people on the tour. Today was the beginning of Australia’s school holidays, so there were a lot of people. First we saw a huge flat rock with hundreds of rock carvings. There were some really obvious shapes like emus and kangaroos, but other carvings were just random shapes to me. Just the sheer amount of art was really cool.

After seeing the carvings, our guide took us over to another Aboriginal rock art site. There were rock overhangs filled with hand stencils. Hand stencils were made by putting ochre (colored crushed rock) in their mouth with water and spitting it over their hand. The result is an outline of a hand. Hand stencils were made after each important ceremony in a person’s life. They were really cool looking.

In the afternoon we went to the Split Rock area. I didn’t find any split rocks, but it was an awesome area to explore. I found a dead adult kangaroo and what I think was a joey. While I know it’s part of the circle of life, it was still really sad to see them. Kelly got more than she bargained for. While she was taking pictures, she came across a fairly large snake! The jury is still out on whether or not it was a poisonous snake, but either way it definitely gave her a fright.

The best part of the day was when the sun started going down and casting a really golden light on the land. This light made the orange/red rock really vibrant and awesome. Then we saw a great sunset. It was a fabulous day.

Hiking in the Outback: Photo Class Day 5

On Friday we went on an all-day photographic hike near Homestead Creek in the Mutawintji National Park. The walk started along a creek bed, where we found some fantastic red sand waves. Again we were surrounded by lots of red rocks that made really cool shapes. It was really unusual because there was a lot of green vegetation (there must have been rains usually).

We climbed up the side of the gorge and were rewarded with a fantastic view over the park. Then we sat for a nice picnic lunch. After lunch I began to feel really exhausted (I blame it on the cold I’m battling rather than my physical fitness). So I’m not sure how my post-lunch pictures will turn out because I was more focused on the hike instead of the surroundings. The last hour or so was particularly dicey as the “path” was wandering over random boulders. We all made it out alive and enjoyed our nice, hot showers.

Mutawintji Gorge: Photo Class Day 4

We left Broken Hill at around noon on Thursday for the Mutawintji National Park. The drive was on mostly dirt roads with a view of nothing but red earth, green plants, and blue sky. We got to our home base, a small structure for scientific and educational use. From there we headed to the Mutawintji Gorge. While the gorge itself wasn’t that tall (compared to Ithaca), the place was spectacular. There were lots of red/orange rocks, which looked awesome in the late afternoon golden sun. We saw lots of kangaroos and a few goat skulls. Wild goats inhabit the area and are considered pests. Walking back out of the gorge we were treated to a great sunset, which created beautiful silhouettes in the trees. Seeing a place so neat reminded me how incredibly lucky I am to be here.

After a curry dinner, Peter Peterson (his actual name) led us in some songs around the campfire. We talked a lot and got to know each other better. It was a great first day in the Outback.

Sunset in a Ghost Town: Photo Class Day 3

Wednesday was spent mostly on a bus with the 10 other students on the trip, 2 professors, trip supervisor, and cultural guide/bus driver. We drove into the Outback and into New South Wales. The land was quite barren: red earth dotted by sage green plant scrub and 3-4 feet high bush/trees. Every once in a while you’d see a tree, but for the most part the tallest thing in sight were telephone poles. The most exciting thing during our trip was seeing an (unfortunately dead) echidna. An echidna is an Aussie porcupine, and his spikes felt like toothpicks (yes, I touched it).

Finally, we reached our destination: Broken Hill, NSW. Broken Hill is a small, strange mining town. It goes by the South Australia time zone, which is a ½ hour difference from the east coast of Australia (it doesn’t make sense to me either).

After we checked into our hotel, we headed to Silverton (15 minutes from Broken Hill). Silverton was a mining town (silver as I’m sure you guessed) that had a population of 3000 in 1885. After the ore ran out, the town was pretty much deserted, and only 50 people live there now. Lots of movies/commercials have been shot in Silverton (such as Mad Max 2), and we headed there to take pictures of its iconic imagery. In Silverton there are a lot of old buildings that are abandoned and falling down, which make for great pictures. Unfortunately I had some camera issues and didn’t see a lot of the cool stuff until it was too dark for the black and white camera to capture images properly. Oh well. It was my first real photo shoot, and I still have a lot to learn.

Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Photo Class Day 2

On Tuesday we had a very rudimentary practice for what we’ll be doing during the rest of the course. First, we were issued our analog (film) SLR cameras. Immediately, I realized that I hadn’t used a film camera at all in the last 3 years, and I hadn’t used one where I actually had to load the film in even longer. So, I felt a bit sheepish when I had to ask for help loading the film. Then we talked about film speed, aperture, shutter speed, and exposure. All of these things are more complicated than on a video camera to be sure. Then we were set loose to take pictures around the campus.

When we came back we developed our film (which sounds so easy, but this is no 1 hour photo operation). My first mistake was that I rewound the film too far (a manual process), which made it harder. I had to pop off the ends of the film canister with a bottle opener, cut the ends of the film, and feed it onto a developing spool—all in 100% darkness. And I mean no light. There was no difference in having my eyes open or shut. I was hopeless with this sensory deprivation so I needed a lot of help. Once my film was wound onto the spool, we put it into a light proof container. Then we could turn the lights back on. The next step was to actually develop the film, which involved pouring developer into the container (in for 20 minutes), stop bath (1 minute), and fixer (5 minutes). Then our film was put into the dryer while we ate lunch.

After lunch we got to work making our print. First we made contact sheets, or one sheet of photo paper that has a copy of all our negatives on it. We made these by the same developing process as the photograms, except that we put negatives on the photo paper instead of random objects. Then, by looking at the contact sheet, we picked which negative to print. To make a print, you put the negative into a projector-like image by moving the projector up and down, and then you expose the photo paper with the projection shining on it. Finally, you develop the print (developer, stop bath, fixer, rinse), and you have a picture!

I learned that the photographic process is very long and tedious. But I know that, just like everything else, practice will make it come so much easier.

Photo Class Day One

On Monday we had our first introduction to basic photography through photograms. Photograms are created by placing un-exposed photo paper on a flat surface, putting various objects on top of the paper, and then exposing the paper to light for a few seconds. Then you take the paper and develop it just like you would a normal print. That process is:
1.) put in developing solution for 1 minute
2.) put in stop bath (stops the development reaction) for 30 seconds
3.) put in the fixer solution for 2 minutes
4.) wash off chemicals
Then you end up with something that looks kind of like an x-ray. Basically the opaque objects let no light through, so they show up white, and the translucent objects show up various shades of grey. It’s the most basic form of photography.

Then after class we started working on our visual journal assignment. We’re allowed to write in the journal, but we’re also supposed to keep our photography elements in it and draw/paint/whatever inspires us. I’m really enjoying it, it’s definitely letting me get in touch with my artistic side.

For dinner, we were treated to a meal by a “famous” Aussie chef, Stefano DePieri. He made us mushroom risotto with tiramisu for dessert. It was quite yummy. At the dinner we also met some more photography staff and saw examples of students’ work from previous years. It was a wonderful start to the course.

A Step Back in Time: Traveling to Mildura

The tone truly was set for the day when upon entering Southern Cross station in Melbourne I saw a family dressed in full Victorian England attire. Like seriously head-to-toe, the mom was in a corset and hoop skirt and the dad and sons were in knickers and stockings. The time warp continued as I got on a long distance train, and I imagined that I was getting into an old steam train heading into the Midwest. This image was continued when I looked out the window and saw nothing as far as the eye can see. Just grass, dirt, trees, and sheep broken by a few random houses. While I’m not exactly a city girl, it was definitely culture shock.

It was a long day of travel. We left at 7:30 am from our hotel. Then we were on the train from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. Then the train line ended, so we had to get on a bus. The bus started breaking down, so it took extra long. We finally got into Mildura at 6 pm. Mildura is a small town that exists because of its prime conditions for agriculture. It’s on the border of Victoria and New South Wales and is close to South Australia, making it on the edge of the outback.

We were welcomed to Mildura by a pizza dinner with two of our professors, and settled into our home for the photography unit. We’re in a hostel designed to house agricultural workers, so the 11 of us live in a one-story house. It’s pretty fun.